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How to identify it
- A stout black and yellow wasp one-half to three-quarters of an inch long with small brown wings and a small yellow collar at the front of the thorax, just behind the head.[1]
- The abdomen and thorax are marked with small pits or indentations.[1]
- Females are larger and paler than males and have more complex markings.[1]
- Look for it on bare sandy ground along dirt roads, paths and gravel pits in high summer, and at flowers.[1]
Look-alikes
| Look-alike | How to tell them apart |
|---|---|
| Yellowjackets | The beewolf is a black and yellow wasp but a solitary one: each male and female digs an individual nest in sandy soil, and the female hunts bees rather than foraging for a colony.[1] |
| Weevil wasps (Cerceris) | Cerceris wasps are digger wasps in the same subfamily (Philanthinae) and are also hosts of Hedychrum cuckoo wasps, but their head glands are small and simple and prey embalming is restricted to the beewolf tribe.[2][3] |
| Cuckoo wasps (Hedychrum) | Brood parasites of Philanthus and Cerceris nests that mimic the cuticular hydrocarbon profiles of their hosts; they do not hunt bees themselves.[3] |
Where it lives
One of the most widely distributed North American wasps; common and native throughout Illinois, where it is seen statewide in prairie and edge habitats.[1]
Biology and life cycle
Beewolves nest in sandy soils on dirt roads, paths and gravel pits and are most active during the hottest part of summer. Males and females each dig individual nests before mating, which shelter them from parasites and predators, and a nest may be reused several times.[1]
Adults are pollinators, but the larvae are carnivores. A female stalks and stings other pollinating bees, immobilizing them, carries them to a cell in her underground nest, lays an egg beside the live but paralyzed prey and seals the cell. The egg hatches in about two days and the larva feeds on the stored bees.[1]
Like the Afro-European beewolf Philanthus triangulum, North American Philanthus gibbosus females have a large postpharyngeal gland and embalm their paralyzed bees with its secretion, mostly unsaturated hydrocarbons; the coating keeps water from collecting on the prey and makes it a poor surface for fungal growth, an antimicrobial defense for the larval food supply.[2]
Larvae overwinter in the nest and pupate in spring or early summer. Males emerge before females and live up to 49 days; females live slightly shorter lives.[1]
Cuckoo wasps of the genus Hedychrum are brood parasites of Philanthus and Cerceris nests and mimic the cuticular hydrocarbons of their hosts; because beewolves use hydrocarbons to preserve their prey, they cannot easily change their chemical signature to shake off the mimics.[3][2]
Damage and signs
- Beewolves do no damage to property or plants. Their only victims are the bees they hunt to feed their larvae, and the adults pollinate flowers.[1]
Health risk
The Illinois DNR describes the beewolf as a common native wasp that uses its sting on bees it hunts; the sources do not report it stinging people.[1]
Control
Prevention
No control is needed. Beewolves are solitary, native digger wasps that pollinate flowers as adults and nest alone in bare sandy ground, and are most active in the hottest part of summer; leave the nesting patches alone.[1]
Common questions
- A black and yellow wasp keeps carrying bees into a hole in my sandy path. What is it?
- A female beewolf. She stings bees to paralyze them, carries them into a burrow in sandy soil, and lays an egg on each one for her larva to eat. The nests are individual and most active in the hottest part of summer.[1]
- Will it hurt my honey bees?
- Beewolves hunt pollinating bees for their larvae; the Illinois DNR says the females stalk and sting other pollinating bees. The species is a common native part of prairie and edge habitats, and the sources give no evidence of harm to managed hives.[1]
- Why does it coat the bees it catches?
- Research on Philanthus gibbosus showed the females embalm their paralyzed prey with a secretion of unsaturated hydrocarbons from a large gland in the head; the coating keeps the bees from getting damp and moldy while the larva feeds.[2]
Sources
- Illinois Department of Natural Resources, “Beewolf (Philanthus gibbosus), Wild About Illinois Wasps.” dnr.illinois.gov/education/wildaboutpages/wildaboutinvertebrates/wildaboutwasps/wabwbeewolf.html (accessed 2026-11-10)
- BMC Evolutionary Biology (Springer Nature), abstract via PubMed, “Weiss K, Strohm E, Kaltenpoth M, Herzner G. Comparative morphology of the postpharyngeal gland in the Philanthinae (Hymenoptera, Crabronidae) and the evolution of an antimicrobial brood protection mechanism. BMC Evolutionary Biology 15:291 (2015).” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26690740/ (accessed 2026-11-10)
- BMC Ecology and Evolution (Springer Nature), abstract via PubMed, “Castillo R, Wurdack M, Pauli T, Keller A, Feldhaar H, Polidori C, Niehuis O, Schmitt T. Evidence for a chemical arms race between cuckoo wasps of the genus Hedychrum and their distantly related host apoid wasps. BMC Ecology and Evolution 22:138 (2022).” pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36443667/ (accessed 2026-11-10)
- iNaturalist, “Philanthus gibbosus taxon page (order and family).” www.inaturalist.org/taxa/133268 (accessed 2026-11-10)